Research Methods Exam 1

scientific process

provides an objective set of rules for gathering, evaluating, and reporting information

knowing through intuition and anecdotes

what one considers likely based on feeling and or limited experience

knowing through authority

accepting something is true because someone says so

empiricism

knowledge is based on careful observations, no hunches or assumptions

data

scientists make observations and collect data. they determine how these data fit with what we think and what we know about the world

public verification

scientists are skeptical of each other

scientist check up on each other (peer review)

solvable problems

science can only address problems that are answerable given our current technology

falsifiable ideas

description of behavior

careful observation

precise description- numerical value

determine if there’s a relationship between events

prediction of behavior

when will the behavior occur

determination of causes

what triggers the behavior

explain behavior

underlying causes of behavior

basic research

aims to answer a fundamental question

applied research

aims to address practical issues or problems in the real world

research questions

basis for most research, a starting point

hypothesis

tentative answer to research question

specific prediction about the outcome of study

abstract

summary of research report, 150-200 words

includes hypothesis, procedure, and results

introduction

outlines the problem being investigated, the significance

discusses past research and theories relevant to the problems

formal hypotheses or specific expectation are introduced and connect to past research

methods

overview of design

procedure, with enough detail that it can be replicated

equipment or testing materials

data analysis

results

findings presented

discussion section

whether hypotheses were supported

how results compare to past results

may include suggestions for practical applications

suggestions for future research on the topic

present limitations and/or strengths

theories

structured frameworks that explain behavior and guide how researchers design studies, form predictions, and test ideas

past research

relies on archival materials, original writings, and artifacts to understand how psychological concepts and methods developed over time.

May raise more questions than they answered

peer review

the evaluation of scholarly work or research by independent experts in the same field before it is published

Tuskegee Syphilis study

african american men were told that they were being treated for bad blood instead of syphilis to see the progression of untreated syphilis

miligram’s obedience experiment

participants were told to delivered shocks to see the effects of punishment on learning

if participants wanted to quit the experimented said the could but urged them on

studied the phenomenon of obedience to an authority figure

Nuremberg code (19470

set of 10 ethical principles that guide legal and safe medical research on human subjects

developed in responses to the cruel and deadly human experiments performed by Nazi physicians in concentration camps

declaration of helsinki

broader application of Nuremberg code and related principles

includes a requirement that journal editors confirm that research published in the journal conformed to the declaration

belmont report

ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research

beneficence, respect, justice

beneficence

benefits should outweigh the potential risks

respect for persons

informed consent

deception- active misrepresentation. Could full knowledge affect the study?

debriefing- research must explain any deception and discuss potential effects of participation

Justice

fairness and equity in distribution of benefits and risks

IRB

composed of 5 people, one outside of institution

review the proposed research

assess for physical harm, stress and distress, confidentiality and privacy

either approve the application to conduct research or requests changes

IACUC

oversees nonhuman animal research

AU has one

must have a scientist, veterinarian, and a community member

scientific misconduct

plagiarism- using someone else’s work as your own

fraud- forging or making up data

operational definition

defines a concept by precisely specifying how the concept is measure in a particular study

allows us to study abstract and complex concepts

communicate about said concepts with precision an dconfidence

construct validity

how well does you defined variable represent the world

internal validity

how well are you able to draw conclusions from the results of your study

external validity

the extent of which your results can be generalized

nonexperimental method

observe variables as they occur naturally

variables of interest are measured

helps us describe relationship between variables and make predictions

correlation does not mean causation

experimental method

one or more variables are manipulated an one or more variables are measured

dependent variable

the manipulated variable

independent variable

the variable that is measured

confounding variables

an outside factor in a study that affects both variables, creating a false or distorted impression of the true link

experimental control

keeping variables constant across different levels of our independent variable

randomization

keeping variables evenly distributed across the different levels of our independent variable

reliability

consistency of a measure

the likelihood that you’ll get the same result each time you measure

Reactivity

awareness of being measure can change behavior

observation can cause anxiety, desire to please, etc

approaches to control reactivity include concealment or adaptation

true score

what the score would be if the test were a perfect measure of the attribute being tested

measurement error

deviations from a perfect measure of the attribute being tested due to extraneous factors

test-retest reliability

if we measure the behavior twice or more in the same person at different times, will we get a similar score?

internal consistency/ inter-item reliability

the degree to which different items yield consistent results is the measure of internal consistency

psychological measures are often made up of a lot of different questions (items) that are meant to measure the same variable

inter-rater reliability

the degree to which measure by multiple researchers are correlated

nominal scales

no quantitative properties, just categories, we can assign numbers but they are just labels

ordinal scales

similar to nominal but involved rank ordering

tells us relative order, but says nothing of the quantitative difference between levels

interval scale

the distance between levels is meaningful

there is no true 0 that indicates the absence of what is being measured

no true zero means we cant determine the ration of one number to another

ratio scale

there is a true zero indicating the absence of what is being measured

because there is a true 0, makes sense to determine ratios

face validity

measure appears to measure what its supposed to

content validity

degree to which measure includes content that is relevant to all aspects of a topic

predictive validity

measure can help predict future behavior

convergent validity

degree to which the measure is consistent with other measures that use different operation definitions

discriminant validity

scores on a measure are not related to other variables